Cyberlink Media Suite 9 Ultra

CyberLink MediaSuite 9 Ultra is an incredibly comprehensive collection of programs that provides everything you need to play, watch, edit and share your favourite media files.

You get no less than 12 full applications.

PowerDVD 10 BD Express, the suite's media player, supports playback for all the major video formats (and most of the minor ones, too) and DVDs. New with this version is support for playing Blu-ray, HD, Blu-ray 3D and other 3D video formats. You can even convert 2D videos and DVDs to 3D, and PowerDVD now allows you to share comments as you watch on Facebook and Twitter.

PowerDirector 8 Ultra will then take care of your video editing needs. Better than ever, too, thanks to the expanded 16 video timelines (up from 2), and a particle effects designer that allows you to create spectacular special effects.

And if you already have your videos, then MediaEspresso 6 Deluxe will share them on YouTube and Facebook, or convert them into formats suitable for playback on just about any portable device (iPhone, iPod, iPad and more). And quickly, thanks to support for NVIDIA CUDA and AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing technology.

Power2Go 7, the suite's disc burning package, includes useful extras like an ISO viewer and the ability to create interactive slideshows. Its support for the new 128GB BDXL format allows very easy archiving, too. Although PowerBackup provides scheduled backups, if you need them.

And the list goes on. PowerProducer 5.5 Ultra allows you to share your videos on DVD, Blu-ray, AVCHD and AVCREC discs; MediaShow 5.0 Deluxe manages your photo collection, with speedy face tagging, instant photo fixing options and more; PhotoNow provides more advanced image editing options, and there are additional tools to edit audio files, create ring tones, design disc labels, build professional slideshows, and a whole lot more.

There is a price to pay for all this of course, and Ultra is the most expensive of the MediaSuite editions (although still much cheaper than buying the applications individually).

If you're looking to save money, however, MediaSuite 9 Pro offers almost all the same functionality as the Ultra edition, with the exception that it can't play Blu-ray discs.

And MediaSuite 9 Centra can't play or create Blu-ray discs or 3D videos, and excludes MediaEspresso so doesn't convert media files, but otherwise has the same playback, editing and sharing features that we've listed here.

Verdict

This powerful suite just keeps getting better. It's great value for money, too, considering the functionality on offer